simple_Automatica - Flask Automation Dashboard

A sleek, secure web interface to trigger Python automation scripts with a modern dark theme featuring red accents.

Features

• Authentication: Secure login system with configurable users
• Dashboard: Execute Ansible playbooks, PowerShell scripts, and shell scripts
• Dynamic File Selection: Automatically scans directories for available files
• Log Viewer: Browse and view log files with breadcrumb navigation
• Modern UI: Dark theme with red/burgundy/coral color scheme
• Responsive Design: Mobile-friendly interface using Bootstrap 5
• HTTPS Support: Optional self-signed certificate support
• Activity Logging: Tracks user actions and script executions
• Interactive Help: Hover tooltips for contextual information
• Configurable: JSON-based configuration for easy customization

Design

The application features a modern dark theme with a sophisticated color palette:

• Black Background: #0a0a0a for the main interface
• Burgundy: #872341 for gradients and accents
• Red: #BE3144 for primary actions and highlights
• Coral: #E17564 for hover states and interactive elements

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• Flask
• Existing automation scripts in the specified directories

Installation

1. Install Flask

pip install flask

2. Set up Directory Structure

Ensure you have the following directory structure:

.
├── app.py                    # Main Flask application
├── config.json              # Configuration file (required)
├── templates/               # HTML templates
│   └── pages/
│       ├── login.html
│       ├── dashboard.html
│       ├── logs.html
│       └── config_error.html
├── playbooks/               # Directory containing .yml, .sh, .ps1 files
│   ├── example.yml
│   ├── script.sh
│   └── script.ps1
├── inventory/               # Directory containing .ini files
│   ├── hosts.ini
│   └── production.ini
├── logs/                    # Directory for log files (auto-created)
├── run_ansible.py          # Ansible wrapper script
├── run_powershell_with_ansible.py  # PowerShell wrapper script
└── run_sh_with_ansible.py  # Shell script wrapper

3. Configure the Application

Create a config.json file in the same directory as app.py:

{
    "secret_key": "your-secret-key-change-this-in-production",
    "users": {
        "admin": "admin123",
        "user1": "password123"
    },
    "host": "0.0.0.0",
    "port": 8443,
    "debug": false,
    "use_https": false
}

Important: Change the secret_key and user passwords before deploying to production!

4. Enable HTTPS (Optional)

To enable HTTPS with self-signed certificates:

{
    "use_https": true
}

Note: When using HTTPS for the first time, you'll see a browser warning about the self-signed certificate. This is normal - click "Advanced" and "Proceed" to continue.

Running the Application

Basic HTTP Server

python3 app.py

HTTPS Server (with self-signed certificates)

1. Set "use_https": true in config.json
2. Run the application:

python3 app.py

The server will start on http://0.0.0.0:8443 (or https:// if HTTPS is enabled)

Usage

1. Login

• Navigate to http://your-server:8443 (or https://your-server:8443 if HTTPS is enabled)
• Login with credentials configured in config.json
• Default: Username: admin, Password: admin123 (change this!)

2. Dashboard - Execute Tasks

1. Select Task Type from the dropdown:

   • "Run Ansible Playbook" (uses run_ansible.py)
   • "Run PowerShell Script" (uses run_powershell_with_ansible.py)
   • "Run Shell Script" (uses run_sh_with_ansible.py)

2. Select Target File - automatically filtered based on task type:

   • .yml files for Ansible
   • .ps1 files for PowerShell
   • .sh files for Shell scripts

3. Select Inventory - shows .ini files from the inventory directory

4. Configure Options:

   • Parallelism (Forks): Set the number of parallel executions (1-10)
   • Verbose Output: Toggle verbose logging

5. Click Start Job to execute the command

Tip: Hover over the ? icon in the hero card for helpful information about the dashboard.

3. Log Viewer

• Navigate to the Logs page from the navigation bar
• Use breadcrumb navigation to browse through log directories
• Click ".. (Go Up)" to navigate to parent directories
• Click on any log file to view its content in the right panel
• File dates are displayed in red for easy visibility
• Log files are sorted by newest first

Command Execution Logic

When you click "Start Job", the application runs:

python3 {selected_script_wrapper} --playbooks ./playbooks/{selected_file} --inventory ./inventory/{selected_inventory} --forks {forks} [--verbose]

The command is executed in the background using subprocess.Popen() so the web interface remains responsive.

File Management

Adding New Scripts

Simply place your files in the appropriate directories:

• Ansible Playbooks: ./playbooks/*.yml
• PowerShell Scripts: ./playbooks/*.ps1
• Shell Scripts: ./playbooks/*.sh
• Inventory Files: ./inventory/*.ini

The web interface will automatically detect and display them in the dropdowns.

Log Files

Log files should be written to the ./logs/ directory by your automation scripts. The log viewer will automatically detect and display any files and subdirectories.

Security Considerations

1. Change default credentials before deploying to production
2. Use a strong secret_key in config.json
3. Enable HTTPS in production environments
4. Firewall: Ensure only authorized IPs can access port 8443
5. File permissions: Set appropriate permissions on your script files
6. Network security: Consider using a reverse proxy (nginx/Apache) for additional security
7. Path traversal protection: The application includes built-in path validation to prevent directory traversal attacks

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "Configuration Error" page

   • Ensure config.json exists in the same directory as app.py
   • Verify the JSON syntax is valid
   • Check file permissions

2. "Script wrapper not found" error

   • Ensure the wrapper scripts exist in the same directory as app.py
   • Check file permissions (should be executable)

3. "Target file not found" error

   • Verify your files are in the correct directories
   • Check file extensions match the expected types

4. HTTPS Certificate Issues

   • Self-signed certificates will show browser warnings - this is normal
   • For production, consider using proper SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt)

5. Port Already in Use

   • Change the port in config.json
   • Or stop the service using that port: sudo netstat -tulpn | grep :8443

6. Logs page not loading

   • Ensure the ./logs/ directory exists
   • Check directory permissions
   • Verify the templates/pages/logs.html file exists

Debug Mode

For development, enable debug mode in config.json:

{
    "debug": true
}

This will provide detailed error messages and auto-reload on code changes.

Template Structure

The application uses Jinja2 templates organized in the templates/pages/ directory:

• login.html: Authentication page with dark theme
• dashboard.html: Main interface with task execution form and hover tooltips
• logs.html: Log browser with breadcrumb navigation
• config_error.html: Error page displayed when config.json is missing or invalid

All templates share a consistent dark theme with red accents for a cohesive user experience.

Running as a Service

For production deployment, run the application as a systemd service:

1. Create a service file: /etc/systemd/system/simple-automatica.service

[Unit]
Description=simple_Automatica Dashboard
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=your-username
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/SimpleAutomatica
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /path/to/SimpleAutomatica/app.py
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

2. Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl enable simple-automatica
sudo systemctl start simple-automatica
sudo systemctl status simple-automatica

3. View logs:

sudo journalctl -u simple-automatica -f

Activity Logging

All user actions are logged to ./logs/activity.log:

• Login attempts (successful and failed)
• Task executions
• Errors and exceptions

Script execution output is logged to ./logs/debug_execution.log for troubleshooting.

Support

If you encounter issues:

1. Check the console output when running python3 app.py
2. Verify all directory paths are correct
3. Ensure Python 3 and Flask are properly installed
4. Check file permissions on all scripts and directories
5. Review ./logs/activity.log for user action history
6. Review ./logs/debug_execution.log for script execution details

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Author

© 2026 David Zhorzholiani

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